Of Exes and Bookstores
by TheQueenOfWizardsAndNephilim
Summary: In which Mon-el works in a bookstore and Kara is a regular who needs help escaping her ex.


Mon-el was working his shift at the National City Bookstore when a familiar blonde girl who looked about his age came up to him. He recognized her, he just didn't know why.

"Hey, can you please help me?" Asks the blue eyed beauty.

He thought that she was going to ask him where a book she wanted was or if he had any recommendations, not this though.

"Yeah, sure! What can I do for you?" He asks enthusiastically because his boss, Mr. James Olsen, was near.

"My ex just came in with a girl and I don't want him to approach me. Could you please take me around the store so that I don't look like a loser? Please?" She begged him with puppy dog eyes.

Dammit! She's too cute. Normally, he would feel weird doing these kinds of favors for strangers, but he felt as though he knew her, so he agreed.

"Oh thank you so much!" She says excitedly, almost jumping.

The cheery girl practically drags him away from the cash register. He looks at James, hoping he doesn't mind. James rolls his eyes and gestures him to go with her.

"My name's Kara Danvers," She says, giving him her hand so he could shake it.

"Mon-el," He shakes her hand as they began to walk.

"Do I know you?" He asks curiously.

"I come here every day. I always sit in the fictional novels section," She says pointing to the bean bag chairs in one of the sections, indicating where she goes.

"Oh? What do you major in?" He asks her, wondering if that has anything to do with her major. Maybe she studies English literature.

"I major in journalism. I'm hoping that I could work for CatCo. What about you?"

"I'm in chef school. This job helps pay my fees," He replies. People find it weird that he wants to cook for a living, but his adoptive father, J'onn, was supportive of his decision. He never said anything like "How are you going to make a living and pay the bills?" or "What are you going to get out of doing that?" It really annoyed him when people think of subjects that aren't science or math based are useless.

Kara nodding and smiling while saying, "That's so cool! I suck at cooking. I almost burn down my house every time I try to bake something, but I do love to eat!"

He laughs in amusement and says, "So do I."

"Maybe we should go out sometime and eat together," She says carefully, looking at him, unsure of what his reaction will be like.

"I'd like that," He says, smiling at her as if she was the sun. After all, she was the personification of sunshine.

Kara hooks her arm around his while they continue walking.

"I hope you don't mind. This is just for insurance," She says nervously.

"Nah, it's fine," He replied, knowing that deep down, he was more than fine with it.

"So, what's your ex like? Is he one of those super buff jock douchebags?" He asks her.

She laughs and says, "No, nothing like that. Adam's a total nerd. He's my old boss' son. He broke up with me because I was becoming way too busy for a relationship. It was so awkward going back to work after that."

"I was kind of expecting a more dramatic breakup. Like one from those cheesy fictional books that sad middle-aged women read," He says.

She giggles, looking down and says, "Not quite."

"I can't say that I really understand much about exes other than what I've read in books and watched in movies," He says.

"You've never dated anyone?" She asks, surprised. This guy was one of the most gorgeous men she's ever laid eyes on in her life. There was no way he's never had a girlfriend.

"My biological parents never let me date anyone. They thought it was below us to have short relationships that won't lead to marriage. I guess that affected my social life."

 _'I guess I'll have to be your first,'_ She thinks to herself.

"Well, you're an adult now, so you can be with whoever you want without your parents getting involved," She says, secretly trying to get him to be okay with dating her.

"Oh, uh, my parents actually passed away when I was sixteen," He says awkwardly.

"I am so sorry," She says, embarrassed. Why did she have to say that?

"It's fine, really. I'm not upset anymore. They were horrible people anyway," He says, assuring her that she didn't hit a nerve.

After a while of walking, Mon-el asks, "Your ex isn't here, is he?"

"How did you know?" She asks, blushing furiously. She thought that he wasn't going to notice.

"We've walked around the store twice and there aren't any couples anywhere here," He says, not understanding why she had lied to him about that.

"Okay, first, I swear that ex was real! Second, yes, I did lie about him being here with another girl," She says, putting her hands up in an 'I'm innocent' manner.

"Why, though?" He asks, looking at her oddly.

"I didn't have the guts to ask you to go out with me because I thought that you would reject me because you didn't know me. I thought that if you spent some time to get to know me, that would increase the likelihood of you agreeing to go on a date with me. The truth is, I've been wanting to ask you out for a while now. I come here every day and notice you speaking to other customers about books and you just seem so passionate about them and I think that that's the cutest thing in the world, not to mention that you're ridiculously attractive like-" Kara babbles on, a nervous habit of hers, until Mon-el cuts her off.

"It's okay. I get it now. You could've just asked me though. It would have saved you the time and effort, not that I didn't enjoy our getting to know each other."

"So, you're still willing to go out with me on that food date?" She asks, head down, her blue eyes looking at him through her lashes.

"Yes, I will still go out with you," He rolls his eyes teasingly while smiling at her.

At that agreement, Kara unexpectedly jumps on him and hugs him from excitement, almost knocking him off his feet.

"Yay!" She yells with a huge smile on her face.

 _Finis._


End file.
